Translink putting bus and train tickets up by 1.6 per cent

Staff Reporter

Published:11:19Tuesday 24 January 2017

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Translink is putting its fares up by an average of 1.6 per cent in March, it announced on Tuesday.

The fares revision, across its Metro, NI Railways and Ulsterbus services, will be effective from Monday, March 27, but discounts of around 30 per cent can still be achieved by using best value ‘Smart’ tickets, the firm said.

Translink also pointed out that the 1.6 per cent hike is well below the Retail Price Index (RPI) at 2.5 per cent.

Translink’s Group Chief Executive, Chris Conway said: “We will have held our fares for over 2 years through good business management and a keen focus on cost efficiency, we know many of our passengers appreciated this.

“We have also been increasing numbers of fare-paying passengers; this was clearly evidenced in the weeks before Christmas when over half a million additional journeys were made on public transport compared to the previous year.

“These measures have meant we are able to maintain value for money by keeping fares low.

“We continue to actively encourage customers to use the range of great value promotions and multi journey tickets available and we would urge regular users to take advantage of the savings to be made.

“We have also maintained everyday value Smartlink multi-journey discounts of around 30% for bus travel compared to paying cash fares and recently introduced more popular mobile ticketing options to offer customers even greater choice and convenience. In addition, off peak travel offers such as third off rail and selected Goldline services will be maintained.

“All our best fare deals can be found on our website www.translink.co.uk or call our contact centre 028 90 66 66 30 or visit the local bus or train station to see how to get the lowest fare and start saving”.

“We want to continue to deliver passenger growth. To do this, we will continue to work closely alongside our partners in the Consumer Council NI to promote best value while also delivering major developments and innovation that will transform public transport to be your first choice for travel”, Chris concluded.